Daimler, Mercedes-Benz’s parent company, is already converting gas-powered car production capacity to electric car production capacity in Europe, but now it looks like they are turning their attention to the US.

The German automaker confirmed today that it plans to invest $1 billion to build Mercedes-Benz’s ‘EQ’ electric cars and its batteries in the US. expand full story

The first effort is expected to come to market next year in the form of a luxury SUV called ‘EQ C’ unveiled last year, but now we learn that they reportedly plan to follow the vehicle with a relatively affordable all-electric hatchback with long-range to be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September. expand full story

Since Tesla started producing home battery packs and selling them through SolarCity in 2014, several other automakers, including Nissan and BMW, started also leveraging their electric vehicle battery pack technology for residential energy storage.

Now Mercedes-Benz is the latest to join the industry and it seems to be doing it in a more serious way than Nissan or BMW with a new partnership with Vivint Solar, the second biggest residential solar installer in the US after Tesla’s SolarCity. expand full story

At Daimler’s Annual Shareholder‘s Meeting in Berlin today, the company announced an acceleration of those plans. They are now aiming to get those new electric vehicles in production by 2022 – 3 years sooner than previously announced. expand full story

You simply can’t manufacture electric vehicles in volume if you can’t secure a steady supply of battery cells. Some automakers are doing it by partnering with battery makers, like GM with LG, and others are directly investing in battery manufacturing capacity, like Tesla with the Gigafactory – though still in partnership with a battery maker, Panasonic.

In advance of Formula E’s 2017-2018 season start this Sunday in Hong Kong, news came today that Mercedes has signed an “option agreement” reserving their position as one of 12 teams for the 2018-2019 season, up from 10 teams this season.

You can’t blame to Germans for not having a long-term vision. In interviews at the 2016 Paris Motor Show after unveiling Mercedes’ new all-electric ‘EQ’ brand, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche admitted that Tesla is currently the leader in electric vehicles, but he plans for his company to catch up to Tesla and become the new leader by 2025. expand full story